New hotel, restaurant planned for St. Charles Avenue in Lower Garden District

A five-story hotel with a ground-floor restaurant and rooftop bar is in the works for the former site of the Trolley Stop on St. Charles Avenue. The owner and developer is Verdad Real Estate & Construction, the firm behind the redevelopment of the Magazine Street building that once housed Harry’s Ace Hardware. Verdad has hired local cocktail virtuoso Neal Bodenheimer of Cure, Vals and Cane & Table to oversee the restaurant and bar operations. LightHouse, a hotel management firm based in New York, will operate the hotel.

Jingle, Jangle, Jingle, here comes Mr. Bingle … with another message from Kris Kringle

To quote Don Draper of “Mad Men,” nostalgia is powerful; it’s delicate but potent. Mr. Bingle, New Orleans’ Christmas snowman, turns 76 this year. And New Orleans is still as infatuated with the little fella as when he was first created in 1947 — perhaps more so. Mr. Bingle, flying above Canal Street on Maison Blanche, was an iconic symbol of New Orleans’s childhood past: ours, our parents, and even our grandparents. When local children saw Mr. Bingle on WDSU-TV after school, they knew it was getting close to Christmas.

Find bargains and help your community during Small Business Saturday

From a favorite restaurant for a celebratory dinner, the bookstore that always delivers on binge-worthy reads to the boutique with perfect gifts — independent, local shops and restaurants help make New Orleans unique. On Saturday (Nov. 25), StayLocal and its member businesses — independent, local shops, restaurants and seasonal markets — will celebrate Small Business Saturday in commercial corridors in neighborhoods throughout Greater New Orleans. The majority of these businesses are in Uptown neighborhoods. Falling between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday is a national shopping event dedicated to celebrating and supporting local businesses.

The New Orleans Thanksgiving table: Oyster dressing, rice, bread stuffing or mac ‘n’ cheese?

By Kristine Froeba, Uptown Messenger

Our New Orleans elders and those who respect the old guard serve oyster dressing with their roast turkey. I wouldn’t dream of Thanksgiving without it. However, an influx of newcomers might be changing the menu. In old New Orleans, as in the present, gumbo, turtle soup or oyster soup is served first, followed by the roast turkey and oyster dressing. A myriad of dishes follow, but another expected dish is rice dressing.

City closes homeless encampment at Tchoupitoulas 

From the Mayor’s Office
The Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services and Strategy Director Nathaniel Fields provided updates Tuesday (Nov. 21) on city’s weeklong efforts to close one of the city’s largest homeless encampments on Tchoupitoulas Street under the Pontchartrain Expressway. The Tchoupitoulas Street encampment was officially closed and fenced off Friday (Nov. 17), and the area is now being patrolled to stop trespassers. Thirty-one people have been housed from the Tchoupitoulas encampment, while five individuals are waiting to be permanently housed.

Fire breaks out in Lower Garden District cocktail lounge

A fire broke out in a Lower Garden District cocktail lounge early Monday (Nov. 20), the New Orleans Fire Department reported. 

NOFD fire  crews responded to a 911 call reporting a fire at 1840 Thalia St. at about 3 a.m.. The first units arrived on the scene to find The Treehouse, an indoor-outdoor bar, with fire coming from the center of an outside patio area. The last employees had left the building around 2:30 a.m. without seeing indications of a potential fire.

Police blotter: Two shootings in Hoffman Triangle

Two shootings reported within blocks of each other in the Hoffman Triangle area on Thursday (Nov. 16), according to the New Orleans Police Department. The first occurred about 5:40 p.m. during an attempted robbery. A gunman approached a man in the 3900 block of Washington Avenue and demanded his belongings. When the victim stated he had nothing to give, the gunman shot him before fleeing the scene.